NOTES for Lev 24:1-23

Many criminals and heretics have been killed on the basis of these words. The expressions "a tooth for a tooth" and "an eye for an eye" became symbols of "human justice." This position is one of three stages. The first—the judicial system of ancient society—did not prescribe equal retribution, but always took into account the difference in social class and status between victim and offender, often repaying an eye not with an eye but with death, and death with the destruction of a family or clan. The next stage in God's regulation of our relationships is the Old Testament ordinances we read today. Finally, the picture is completed by the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel (Matt. 5-7), where the Lord speaks of the blessedness of those who love their enemies and do not repay evil with evil. Which system should guide us? This question is addressed not only to today's governments and lawmakers, but first and foremost to each of us.